Sullivan (MBTA station)

SULLIVAN SQUARE
Sullivan Square, facing inbound; supports for elevated highway are visible at top center
Location	One Broadway at One Cambridge Street Charlestown, Boston, Massachusetts
Coordinates	42°23′03″N 71°04′37″W / 42.384031°N 71.07697°W / 42.384031; -71.07697Coordinates: 42°23′03″N 71°04′37″W / 42.384031°N 71.07697°W / 42.384031; -71.07697
Owned by	Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority
Line(s)	Orange Line
Platforms	2 island platforms (Orange Line)
Tracks	3 (Orange Line) 2 (commuter rail)
Construction
Parking	222 spaces ($6.00 fee) 7 accessible spaces
Bicycle facilities	16 spaces
Disabled access	Yes
History
Opened	June 10, 1901 (elevated station)
Rebuilt	April 7, 1975 (modern station)
Traffic
Passengers (2011)	10,125 (weekday average boardings)
Services
Preceding station   MBTA   Following station Community College toward Forest Hills Orange Line current Assembly toward Oak Grove
Location

Sullivan Square is an MBTA subway station serving the Orange Line, located just west of the Sullivan Square traffic circle in the Charlestown neighborhood of Boston. Located adjacent to the East Somerville area of Somerville, it is also a major bus transfer point. It is named after nearby Sullivan Square, itself named for James Sullivan, an early 19th century Governor of Massachusetts and first president of the Middlesex Canal Co. A plaque commemorating the canal is on the column right of the entrance to the station.

Opened April 7, 1975 as part of the Haymarket North Extension, the station has three tracks and two platforms, and is located under a double-decked elevated section of Interstate 93. The current station replaced an older structure built in 1901, which had been a major transfer point on the Charlestown Elevated, a predecessor of the Orange Line.

Like all Orange Line stations, both the subway platforms and all bus connections are fully wheelchair accessible.

Sullivan Square stands on what was once a narrow neck of land referred to as the Charlestown Neck, an area that was originally a thin strip of land connecting the Charlestown Peninsula with present-day East Somerville. Being in a narrow place between larger land masses made Sullivan Square a place where transportation routes naturally converged, and various transportation facilities developed here over the years.

Of particular note was the construction of the Middlesex Canal which spanned 27 miles from Lowell to terminate at the Mill Pond in Charlestown, passing directly through where the Sullivan Square traffic circle stands today. Completed in 1803, the canal was considered a major engineering feat at its time. However, the Boston and Lowell Railroad, completed in 1835, captured much of the freight business, and the canal ceased operation by 1853.